Hands-On: Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Packs Mighty Wallop

TOKYO — Even before I got my hands on a joystick, the thing that struck me about the upcoming Marvel vs. Capcom 3 being shown here is how big the characters are.

Previous entries in the series, which pits superheroes from the Marvel Comics universe against Capcom’s own characters, kept the fighters small and made the arena larger than life.

Now it’s the other way around. This radical change kept the game moving, since the lack of real estate meant tighter quarters and more contact. But it also altered the game in a way that might turn off experienced players.

I’m a fighting game nut, so Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was high on my list of games to see at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. Once I started playing, the controls were not what I expected.

On the one hand, they’re simpler than ever before, with three attack buttons (no longer separated into punches or kicks) and a single “air combo” button for knocking opponents skyward. If that isn’t accessible enough for you, a new “simple mode” control style lets players execute advanced moves without the need for complicated joystick and button commands.

While playing Marvel vs. Capcom 3, I kept thinking of the old Capcom fighting games and continually confused myself by pressing the wrong buttons at the wrong times. I can see the virtues of the new control scheme, but it’s not going to come easy to veterans used to six separate attack buttons.

I still have mixed feelings about the new art style. Capcom’s previous Marvel games featured wonderful 2-D sprites. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 follows Street Fighter 4‘s design with 3-D models that look like cartoons. While I miss the hand-drawn animation of the past, the new look allows for impressive special effects.

For example, while playing as Dormammu I used a super attack that grabbed my opponent and pulled him into the ground. Suddenly he was floating inside a red orb, and the camera pulled back to reveal that orb clenched between my fingers. I crushed the orb and knocked him out. Those sort of sweeping changes in perspective and scale would be impossible with 2-D sprites.

The game’s full roster of characters has yet to be revealed, but here in Tokyo there were 18 to choose from, including Dormammu and Viewtiful Joe, announced last month. Two more characters — Tron Bonne and X-23, pictured above — were announced earlier this week but were not present in the TGS build of the game.

The downloadable revival of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 last year was a real thrill for me and my friends. Playing Marvel vs. Capcom 3 hasn’t doused that enthusiasm, but it has shown me that I’ve got a lot to learn. Of course, that’s the beauty of fighting games: The more you put into figuring out the details, the more tricks you can pull off, and the more fun everything becomes.

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